


Pumpkin Space Latte

by EliseCY



Category: Reylo - Fandom, Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ben Solo - Freeform, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, F/M, Fluff, Kylo Ren - Freeform, Protective Ben Solo, Rey - Freeform, Rey is a ray of sunshine, Reylo - Freeform, Reylo fandom - Freeform, Reylo fluff, Science Teachers, Shy Ben Solo, Star Wars - Freeform, Teacher Ben Solo, Teacher Rey (Star Wars), autumn reylo au, ben is a crusty marshmallow, cute ben solo, high school teachers rey and ben solo, new teacher rey, no-nonsense teacher ben, reylo au, reylo teacher au, short fluffy fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26795551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EliseCY/pseuds/EliseCY
Summary: Ben Solo has been a biology teacher at First Order High for nearly a decade. He's gone about his job with the reputation of being a prickly, no-nonsense teacher every student and teacher is afraid of. He’s never cared what anyone has thought of him before, but when a new astronomy teacher occupies the classroom next door, Ben realizes he may want things to be different this year. If he can manage to speak to her for longer than thirty seconds.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 44
Kudos: 260





	1. Chapter 1

Ben Solo has been a teacher at First Order High for almost a decade now, and the start to every school year is always the same. The same annoying teachers talking too loudly for 8 am. The same stupid walls with the same boring posters. The same influx of new students released from the middle schools clogging the hallways, wild eyes and smiles, ready to be teenagers. He grumbles as he passes the unfamiliarly familiar faces of the teachers who share his corner of the science wing. New students pour into his classroom, even more obnoxious than the ones the year before, and he immediately knows this year will be a long one. He lets out a low grumble as he stands by the open door.

“Welcome. Welcome….” He mutters, bored, as the students trickle in.

The moment his eyes catch their first glimpse of her makes Ben’s heart stop. He never knew that could happen. Sure, he’d always heard about it in movies, but that wasn’t real life…right? That’s what he always thought, but now he stands corrected, because the moment his eyes find hers is like looking out into the sky after a thunderstorm and marveling at the rainbow-streaked sky. He watches as she moves down the hall, her full-mouth smile brightening the hallway as she walks. Her chestnut-brown hair flows against her shoulders, like ripples from a milk chocolate waterfall, and freckles dust her cheeks like shooting stars above her dimpled smile.

He can’t take his eyes off her, and before he realizes he’s doing it, he’s staring at her. And she’s noticed. His heart pounds. She’s coming his way. Every step she takes makes Ben’s heart race even faster, and the way her cheeks dimple when she meets his eyes melts him from the inside out. She holds out her hand. He wants to introduce himself, but his breath sticks in his throat, so all he can manage is, “N-nice to meet you,” with an awkward nod that makes him wince. He shakes her hand, the heat rising to his cheeks. She must think he looks like a total idiot.

He’s scared to meet her eyes again, but when he does, she’s looking at him with a soft expression. Can someone’s heart stop from a single look?

He’s trying to figure out the words to say next, but he’s never been very good at these types of situations. Then again, when was the last time he even felt this way about anything? He can’t seem to remember it ever happening at all. “I’m Ben—Mr. Solo here in the science department. Are you the new astronomy teacher?” He’s impressed with himself for being able to speak so fluidly. It’s a lot easier than he thought.

She smiles again and suddenly he’s back to square one. “Hi, Ben. My name’s Rey Niima. I look forward to being your neighbor.” Her smile remains, and he manages to look into her eyes long enough to catch a glimpse of the way they shimmer a light hazel, like honey and caramel.

The bell rings. He nods at her and says, “Have a good class, Miss Niima. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Sounds good,” she says and then turns around to flounce into her classroom. Ben can’t stop thinking about her as he makes his way to his desk. A packed classroom full of fourteen-year-olds take their seats and clog the air with mindless chatter. Ben really should tell them to quiet down...

“Everyone, that’s enough!” he yells, his loud, deep voice silencing them immediately, forcing him to recall his reputation among the students and staff. He doesn’t really mind that everyone’s intimidated by him. He’s used to it. His whole life has been filled with rumors and fear. But when he hears the new teacher introduce herself through the wall behind him, he suddenly hopes he can change the mind of at least one teacher, if she finds out what everyone thinks he is.

Then he realizes it’s been a solid minute since he said anything. He swallows and says, “My name is Mr. Solo. This is freshman biology. Take out your books and turn to page twenty.” He’s interrupted by roars of laughter erupting from Miss Niima’s classroom, making him further aware of the agonizingly quiet state of his own classroom. He looks out at the blank faces of his new students. You can practically hear the students blink in this room. He hears her voice now, lovely and melodic with a thick London accent, and his heart nearly stops yet again.

He lets out a long breath and resumes his lesson.

_This is going to be a long year._


	2. Chapter 2

It’s Rey’s first day on the job and she’s late. She slept through two of her alarms this morning, and luckily she made four of them because she finally woke up by #3. She’s cursing under her breath as she pushes through the doors of the school and scanning the hallway for Room 202 in the science wing.

After asking two other teachers and looking around for another ten minutes, Rey finally makes her way down the correct hallway, through the busy hallway cluttered with students. Most of them don’t even notice her on her way to the end of the hall. They just bump her on their way to their rooms, still unfamiliar with where to go on their first day, staring at their printed schedules in their hands and only looking up to scan for room numbers.

 _Well, I guess I’m not the only one who’s lost. Then again, I am a teacher. I should have been here hours ago._ She takes a deep breath in and then lets it out as she keeps her head forward and marches toward the end of the hall.

Then she sees him.

He’s over six feet tall—maybe 6’2” or 6’3”—and is wearing what appears to be a permanent scowl as he silently acknowledges each student passing through the doorway he’s standing beside. His hair is as black as ink and drips in waves down the nape of his neck. He’s wearing a sweater almost as dark as his hair with a gray vest and matching pants. When he looks forward, she knows he sees her too. Their eyes lock, and for the briefest moment, time stands still. A shock-like ripple shivers across her skin, burning through her like white-hot electricity. She can’t help but smile at him, which seems to take him by surprise because after she does, his gaze deepens and his lips part slightly (which she may have missed if she hadn't been watching them with such close interest).

Finally, she makes it to the set of classrooms to his left and reads the number above the door: "202". _My classroom...it's right next to his_. Her eyes shift back to his as she holds out her hand. When he takes it, the rush of electricity is back in her veins, pulsing through her like wildfire. She looks up at him and gets lost in his intoxicating stare. Her legs feel like jelly, and it's suddenly hard to breathe. The longer she stays peering into his dark hazel eyes, the more difficult it becomes to break free of his gaze. Why does he have such power over her? Did he cast some sort of spell on her the moment they locked eyes? “N-nice to meet you,” he says, and when the color rises to his cheeks her heart practically explodes. Her smile widens as he continues. “I’m Ben—Mr. Solo here in the science department. Are you the new astronomy teacher?”

She nods, still smiling, “Hi, Ben. My name’s Rey Niima. I look forward to being your neighbor.” She doesn’t know why she’s speaking so formally, but before she can correct herself, the bell rings and it’s time to go.

“Have a good class, Miss Niima. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.” He gives her a quick nod, and she suppresses a giggle at his cute awkwardness. _He’s adorable._

“Sounds good,” she replies, and now she’s the one blushing. She turns around and rushes into her room before he can see how red her face is getting.

When the teenagers settle into their seats, Rey attempts to gather herself. This is her first day teaching outside of her teaching program, and she’s not starting out like she’d hoped. She’s tired, she was late, and she ran into the most handsome stranger she’s ever laid eyes on, and she doesn’t know what to do with it. Should she try to talk to him again? Did he like talking to her? He _was_ blushing after all.

 _I wonder if he was embarrassed for me because I was so awkward and late. He couldn’t have been blushing because of any feelings, right? That would be crazy…but…no one’s ever looked at me like that, and I’ve never_ _felt_ …

“Excuse me, but are we going to start class?” a bespectacled student in the front table calls out to her with a raised hand. She blinks and shakes her head of any thoughts of Mr. Solo from next door.

“U-uh yes! Of course!” she says. “Now, who wants to start astrology class today?”

“Um…don’t you mean astronomy?” the bespectacled boy asks. The class erupts with laugher and Rey’s face goes red hot.

“Yes, yes, of course!” she says, but her face just gets hotter and she wants to disappear.

The rest of the class period goes in pretty much the same fashion, and so does the one after that. In the first class, she pronounces almost every student’s name wrong and she loses her binder full of notes and reminders, and when she finally does find it, she realizes she had prepared the wrong lesson and had to improvise how to teach the students the basics they would need for the lesson she actually did prepare for. In the next class period, she focuses on learning the students’ names so much that she momentarily forgets her own name when one of the students asks her for it. She’s so embarrassed that she just goes right into the improvised lesson, which she butchers because she obviously hadn’t actually prepared one. She even trips on a cord at one point and has to catch herself before face-planting on the floor.

By the time the classes before lunch are over, Rey just wants to cry. It takes every last ounce of dignity and self-restraint inside of her not to sob and fall into a lump on the floor.

She at least lets herself sit on the floor, partially in fear of falling again. She’s never this clumsy. Ever. _Why today?_

Tears burn her eyes and threaten to trickle down her face. She tries to hold them back, but it’s no use. Two manage to leak through before the dam bursts completely.

Just as the sobs erupt down her face, someone knocks at the door.

She turns to see Ben Solo, his hand still pressed against the open door, too shocked to move. His mouth gapes open, and a look of both horror and fury settles on his face. "What happened?" he asks, his voice low. "Who did this to you?”


	3. Chapter 3

When he first sees her on the floor, he doesn’t know what to do. All he knows is that the sight of her in such distress makes his heart ache and blood boil with rage. Someone’s going to pay. "Who did this to you?" he whispers, his voice low, "If someone did anything to hurt you, I promise you it won't happen again. You can leave that to me." He walks closer to her, instinctively crouching down beside her and putting his hand on her back. It comes so naturally to react to her like this, but he can’t remember the last time he comforted anyone else like this. Had he _ever_ comforted anyone else like this?

She gives him a sad smile and shakes her head, snuffling. “No, no one did this. It’s just been a really bad day.” Tears flow down her cheeks again, so she sinks her face into her hands. Ben watches her in distress. He has no idea what to do. He has to fix this. How can he fix this?

He runs his hand along her back. “What happened?” he asks again, but softer this time. She turns her face to look at him. She snuffles and tries composing herself enough to talk without bursting back into tears. Ben continues rubbing her back until he realizes that maybe he should have asked first. He freezes. _What do I do?_ His body goes cold. _What if I made her more uncomfortable?_ He pulls his hand away slowly and puts it on his lap just in case.

“Well,” she starts, looking up at him below long, black lashes. “I just…I ruined my students’ impression of me, and I made stupid mistakes the entire day. I know they must just think I’m ridiculous.”

Ben’s brows furrow. “But I heard your students laughing.”

“Yeah, they were laughing all right. At _me_.” She leans back to sit against the bottom of her desk. “Maybe I should have opted to teach younger kids. I don’t think these students will respect me. They’ll just think I’m a joke, especially after today.” She winces and closes her eyes, lines of distress carving themselves in her forehead. “Maybe I should see if I can get transferred to the middle school.”

Ben’s body feels like it’s been filled with ice-cold water, and suddenly the only thing that matters is making sure Rey is happy enough to stay. He never knew someone like her existed--someone so vibrant and beautiful that she could take away every cloudy day if she only looked into the sky and smiled. And there’s something else. Something he can’t quite put his finger on. He just knows she’s different. When he looks into her eyes, he can tell that she’s different. He can tell that she’s _good_.

He can’t imagine her leaving now.

“Miss Niima,” he begins before the nerves take over. Suddenly the realization that he could make a complete fool out of himself and make her even more uncomfortable hits him like a thousand bricks. “Um…” Focus, Ben, focus. She’s counting on you. “I—um…You have something special,” he finally blurts out. She’s staring at him with hopeful eyes. His heart thumps wildly against his chest, but he continues. “You have something the students will be drawn to. I can see it when you smile.” He looks away when he feels the heat flood to his cheeks.

He stares at his hands for what seems like an eternity before she puts a hand on his knee and looks leans forward. “Do you really mean it, Ben?” The sound of his name on her lips makes his heart pound even more. He fiddles with one of the buttons on his vest, pretending he isn’t acutely aware of her hand on his knee.

He nods and looks back at her. “I do. I know you have it in you. Just…give it some more time.”

She smiles, her eyes not leaving his until another knock comes at the door.

“Hey, Rey, are you ready to grab lunch?”

They turn around and see another one of the school’s teachers. Finn. Or as the students call him, “Mr. Finn.” He refuses to tell anyone his last name, so he has everyone call him by his first name. Ben never really asked anyone about it other than when he first heard about him. The answer he got was that Finn had some family troubles that he didn’t like dug up. Everyone was fine with it, so Ben never thought anything of it again.

He looks between Rey and Ben with narrowed eyes. “What’s going on here?” he asks, keeping his eyes locked on Ben.

“I’m okay, Finn, really,” she says as she gets to her feet. “I was just having a bad day, but Ben already helped me feel better.” She touches Ben’s arm as he stands up too and looks into his eyes. “Thank you, Ben. Really.” She smiles that bright, dimpled smile that makes his heart go wild before leaving the room. Finn glares at Ben over his shoulder, but Ben just marches right past him and heads to his left to eat lunch in his classroom, as he always does, alone.

**

The days pass on much better than the first. For Rey, at least. While Ben’s students are always working in careful silence, Rey’s students can always be heard making a lot of noise and roaring with laughter—and this time it wasn’t callous laughter at their teacher’s misfortune. Ben lives for the moments he hears her through the wall. He can never make out what she’s saying, but just hearing her as he grades papers makes his days so much more bearable. The only thing unbearable about the whole situation is that he hasn’t been able to muster up the courage to talk to her again. It’s been three weeks since their first day, but they haven’t had a chance to talk. Rey is always barely on time to her class (which is an hour later than when Ben gets to school each day) and when she’s on her breaks, she’s either grading papers in her classroom or eating lunch with Finn. Ben had gathered the courage to ask her to lunch that first day but didn’t end up getting the chance. She was apparently friends with Finn before getting this job, and they already agreed to lunch plans that day. And they’ve eaten together every day since.

So, the only interaction he gets with her is when she flashes a smile at him each morning when she says, “Good morning, Ben! Have a great class!” and when she’s about to leave for the day. She usually pops her head in and tells him she’s leaving and that she hopes he has a good rest of his day. But that’s it.

Still, he lives for these moments. This year is practically the same as all the other years he’s worked at First Order High—et everything feels different. His day-to-day life is pretty much the same, but having Rey in the room next to him has changed everything. Seeing her each day, hearing her through the wall, and getting the chance to hear her speak his name at the beginning and end of his workdays has painted his life with brand new colors. The sky is brighter, the air is sweeter, and things don’t make him mad quite as much as they used to.

“Mr. Solo?”

Ben snaps out of his thoughts. He’s sitting at his desk, but he isn’t grading anything or looking at anything, and he definitely didn’t realize this student had been standing here for who knows how long.

He clears his throat as he looks at the small, redheaded girl in front of him. “Yes, what is it?”

She’s fidgeting with her fingers and looking down at her feet, clearly nervous. “Well, it’s just…I hope I don’t sound rude, but…Miss Niima’s class is being really loud, and it’s hard for me to concentrate. Could you please talk to her?”

He blinks. He hadn’t realized they were making so much noise. He looks at the other students. They immediately turn back to their books and pretend to read. He’s sure they wanted to see what would happen when the girl asked for his help.

“Yes, I’ll talk to her. Excuse me.” He scoots his chair back and makes his way across the room.

“Did you see that?” he hears a student whisper, “He didn’t even get mad.”

“My brother said he used to get mad at everything,” another whispered.

“Yeah, I wonder why he didn’t go over yelling at Miss Niima. I heard he used to yell a lot.”

“Yeah, he—”

Ben shoots them a silencing glare before walking out of the room.

But he hears one more whisper before he heads to the right of his class and into Miss Niima’s: “I heard it’s because he has the hots for her.”

The words hit Ben like a punch to the gut and he immediately panics. _Why would anyone think that? Did I do something? Say something?_

He tries not to think about it as he knocks on Rey’s open door. She stops drawing a constellation on the white board and looks over at him. Her class _is_ notably louder than any of the others in the science wing. But how does he tell her that?

His heart reaches its usual speed for whenever he’s around her. He swallows back nervousness and clears his throat. “Miss Niima, could I please talk to you in the hallway?”

“Of course!” she says, beaming at him. She puts a cap back on the black marker she was using. “Okay, everyone, focus on the assignment. I’ll be right back.” She follows him out into the hall. When he turns to talk to her, his voice is nowhere to be found.

He hasn’t been this close to her since her first day a few weeks ago, and he’s finding it a little hard to focus. Her caramel eyes are looking into his just like they did that first day when they met eyes across the hall, and her usually straight hair is styled in soft curls that graze her collar bones. She smells like warm vanilla cupcakes and her lips are colored a deep red that he’s never seen before. He didn’t know he could be even more attracted to her than he was before, yet here he is…

“What’s up?” she says. He clears his throat, desperately seeking his voice.

“Um…I’m sorry to bother you like this, Miss Niima, but one of my students told me she was having trouble focusing because of…the noise coming from your students…” He started out strong, but the closer he got to the point, the harder it was to find the right way to say it. Ben winces. _I should have thought about what to say before I did anything._

He looks at her, waiting for her negative response. But she doesn’t have one. Her eyebrows just rise in surprise. “Oh! I’m sorry, Ben. I didn’t even notice. I’ll talk to them.”

His heart does the usual _skip_ when he hears her name, but he tries to push the thought away for now so he can continue. “I’m really sorry. Do you want me to talk to them for you?”

Rey shakes her head, and Ben can’t tell for sure, but he thinks she’s suppressing a smile. She puts her hand on Ben’s arm and says, “It’s okay, Ben. I got it. Thank you, though.” Her eyes don’t stray from his until one of the students in her classroom calls out for her. The boy is immediately hushed by a group of girls who were apparently watching Rey and Ben’s interaction with eager captivation.

Pink dusts Rey’s cheeks as she realizes what’s going on. She looks away and laughs gently before giving Ben one last look. “Have a good class,” she says, softer than usual.

“You too, Miss Niima,” he replies as she walks back into her classroom.

She stops and turns around. “Call me ‘Rey,’” she says.

He nods, and her dimpled smile just about stops his heart.


	4. Chapter 4

“Rey? Rey, are you listening?” Finn asks, waving his hand in front of Rey’s face.

“What? Oh. Yeah. Sorry, Finn.” She pokes at her salad with her fork but doesn’t actually grab anything with it. Soon, her mind is wandering again.

“Rey,” Finn says in a tone she imagines her mother would have used had she not been raised by someone like Unkar Plutt.

She rolls her eyes. “What?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Like you don’t know.”

She drops her fork. “What’s so wrong with me liking him, Finn?” she whispers, looking around to make sure the empty room is in fact empty and that no one can hear their conversation.

“Because, _Rey_ , he has a reputation around here. Everyone knows he’s mean. He yells at his students, he gets into fights with the other staff members constantly, and he’s always alone. The guy’s probably a serial killer.”

Rey’s the one raising an eyebrow this time. “First of all, do you mean fist fights or talk fights?”

“Um…talk fights, I guess?”

“So, you think this guy is a serial killer because he gets into arguments with people and gets mad at his students?” She stabs a piece of lettuce with her fork and continues, “I’m in the room right next to his and I’ve never once heard him yell.”

Finn’s jaw drops. “Well maybe not yet! And are you serious, Rey? You can’t tell me you think he’s normal. He eats alone.” She stabs another piece of lettuce with her fork before pointing it at him.

“Maybe he eats alone because no one has ever given him a chance.” She eats the lettuce off the fork and plops the utensil on the table. Standing up, she says, “Now, if you excuse me, I’d like to finish my lunch hour with Ben Solo.”

**

When she gets to his classroom and knocks at the open door, she doesn’t hear anything but the distant sounds of clinking silverware and talking students during their long-awaited lunch hour. “Ben?” She knocks one more time before entering the classroom. “Ben, are you here?” She walks to the opposite end of the classroom and then accepts that he isn’t there. She lets out a sigh and walks to the window. She was too nervous to eat her salad on the way here, but she still isn’t calmed down enough to eat it now. And Ben isn’t even here to talk to. What now?

She sits on the desk closest to the window and watches rain trickle down the glass.

“Rey?”

Her heart and stomach practically leap in unison. When she turns and stands up, she’s met with Ben’s confused stare. _Uh oh. Did I misread the signals? Is he not interested in me after all? I guess he hasn’t asked me to lunch, either. Maybe I jumped too quickly into this. Uh oh._

“Are you okay?” he asks after she doesn’t respond. She laughs nervously.

“Um, yeah of course. I just figured you’d want some company.” She looks up and sees an even more confused stare, and she wishes she could climb in a rocket ship and blast far away from this embarrassing situation.

“Really?” he asks, his voice softening. She snaps her head up. He’s not upset or uncomfortable, or anything like that. He seems…happy.

Her shoulders relax. “Yeah, I’ve been wanting to eat lunch with you for a while now. I just wasn’t sure if you wanted the company.” She walks closer to him, twirling her carefully curled hair between her fingers. Had he noticed she changed it up this morning? She’s a little embarrassed that she bought a new curling iron for the sole purpose of trying to catch his attention, but then again, no one needs to know that. The same thing with this lipstick. $40 for a tube of lipstick was the most Rey had ever spent on makeup in her entire life, but the color made her feel more confident, and it gave her more courage to finally ask Ben to lunch today.

“I do,” he says, and she examines his excited expression with warmth and excitement of her own. “Want the company, I mean.” He laughs and runs his hand through his hair. She watches the way his muscles tighten as his arm moves with the fluid motion and suddenly she’s looking at more than his face.

She can feel the heat burning in her cheeks, so she looks away and plays with the ring on her right hand before he can see how much she’s blushing. But before either of them can say anything, a loud **_CRASH!_** from the hallway shatters the silence and turns their attention elsewhere. Ben strides over in about two swift movements, and by the time Rey makes it over behind him, he’s closing the door.

“What happened?” she asks.

He points toward the small window on the door. “Some kid was on lunch duty and dropped a bunch of dishes. The lunch lady was with him, though, and she just told me to get back in and wait until they pick everything up.”

“Is there a lot of broken silverware or something out there? Is anyone hurt?” She rushes to the window, her fingers holding onto the little indent in the door. She peers through and sees exactly what Ben described.

“No, no one was hurt, and it seems like everything’s under control.”

She turns around and smiles apologetically. “Sorry, I was just worried…”

Her voice trails off. For the first time since she met him, Rey sees Ben smile. _Truly_ smile. It’s not the type of smile you make when something’s funny; it’s the type of smile you make when something moves you, or when you’re looking at someone you completely adore. It’s the sweetest smile she’s ever seen, and his eyes watch her with equal tenderness.

“You’re a good person, Rey Niima,” he says.

She blinks and pleads her cheeks to stop blushing. “What?”

He smiles even more. “You care about people. I love that about you. Not enough people care about other people.”

She shifts her weight in her seat and looks at him carefully. “You really think so?”

His nods, smiling in such a small, simple way that she wonders how anyone could ever think this man was anything other than kind, despite his intimidating demeanor. “This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed it either,” he says, “I always see you out there helping freshman who get lost and anyone whose binder or papers spill all over the floor. You’re patient with the kids in your class, and you’re patient when some of the other members of the faculty—especially the obnoxious ones—won’t leave you alone.”

She laughs. “Well, you get used to it, I guess.” She shrugs and looks off, her eyes trailing to the front of the classroom as she thinks about what he said. “I do that all without thinking. They’re what anyone would do.”

“No,” he says, his deep voice moving through the room, smooth and rich melting chocolate. She watches him shake his head and continue. “People aren’t usually that kind. I’ve been here for almost ten years, and I can count on one hand how many times I’ve seen a teacher go out of their way to help a student in the ways you do.”

“I can’t imagine that’s true,” she says, but he just shakes his head.

“It is, unfortunately. I’m sure it happens—I’m sure a lot of people help each other from time to time around the school. I’m just letting you know that I, personally, have not seen anyone so kind and helpful in this school before.” His eyes fall on her, and thrilled goosebumps settle across her skin.

“Well,” she says, ignoring her physical responses to her colleague, “I’m not the only one.”

Ben chuckles to himself. “Are you talking about Finn? I guess I’ve never been around him much to know.”

“No. I’m talking about you.”

Ben’s forehead creases and he looks at her like she’s just told him the greatest secret of all time—one he has a really hard time believing.

“It’s true. I see the way you help the kids who are struggling in class by working with them on their homework after school. I see the way you go into the kitchen before you leave work on Thursdays so you can help the lunch lady clean those dishes that just crashed all over the hallway outside.” As she speaks, Ben slowly inches closer to her. She distracts herself from more physical responses by continuing. “And you don’t care that people spread stupid rumors about you just because you’re a quiet person.” His body is suddenly so close that she has to look completely upright just to look in his eyes. She can feel the warmth from his body just a couple inches from her own. She smiles and tucks a curl behind her ear. She looks up at him and lets herself get lost in the way he’s looking at her. “You’re a good person too, Ben Solo,” he says, her voice practically a whisper. “You just don’t let anyone see it.”

His eyes continue pulling her in before he whispers back. “Do you believe what the others say?”

It takes more self-restraint than it probably should for Rey to resist reaching up and touching his face, letting her hand trail down his lips, neck, and chest.

She shakes her head and says, “Of course not. I know better.”

Ben looks at her like with awe, and they don’t need to say anything. But she continues anyway. “I see loneliness in your eyes, Ben. I know because I feel it too. I’ve been alone my whole life. Tossed around from foster family to foster family, never really finding a home. It’s taken me my whole life to push through the loneliness and pretend I’m okay…” Tears sting her eyes and threaten to fall, but she manages to stay composed as she continues, “but it’s still there. I still feel it. When I leave work and spend the rest of my night in my apartment, and most of the weekend…I feel it, and I remember that I’m alone.”

The darkness that often finds her seeps through the cracks in her composure, but before it can swallow her whole, Ben whispers. “You’re not alone.” The words glue her back together and she looks at him with even more clarity. _This man…Ben…maybe I’m not as alone as I think._

“Neither are you,” she says, and when the words reach Ben, she can see something inside of him change. A look of relief washes over him, and his shoulders are no longer so rigid and tense. It’s as if any solitude or heartbreak he’s been holding onto all these years is getting exorcised from his entire being. He opens his mouth to say something else, but before he can, the warning bell rings and the hallway behind the door instantly floods with shouting and laughing students on their way to their lockers and afternoon classes.

Lunch is over.

Neither one of them wants to move, but they’re painfully aware of how little time they have until their students come barging in. So, Rey stands up to move her back away from the door, and Ben reaches around her to take hold of the doorknob. She catches the smell of his aftershave as he moves to open the door. The way he smells is intoxicating; it stuns her for a minute and threatens to place her under yet another spell. But when he opens the door she just thanks him and turns around to walk into her classroom.

How is she supposed to teach a class now?

She can hardly breathe.


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the day goes by in a blur. All Ben can think about is the way Rey looked at him when she told him he was a good person. Him? A good person? No one else had ever thought so. He sees it all around him—in the way the students whisper and point, telling tales of a past that isn’t his but one they’ve woven out of imagination and intrigue. He sees it in the way rooms go silent upon his entry, including the teacher’s lounge. That’s why he stopped eating lunch in there. His first year working here had proven to be more than uncomfortable in the social department. His colleagues never wanted to include him in anything, even tedious tasks. Whenever he offered his help, they just shook their heads and said they had it all under control. So, it was easier just to distance himself from the rest. Being alone had become familiar to him, and the more time passed, the more comfortable he became in the solitude.

Still, he did his best to help in any way he could. Whenever someone needed help and welcomed any assistance, he was there. This is how he started assisting Edith, the lunch lady, every Thursday afternoon. No one else wanted to do the dirty work of cleaning up the kitchen and lunchroom. So he was there—the only respite from his solitude.

Until now.

Ben didn’t realize how hollow he felt until Rey walked into his life. The moment he saw her was like an awakening in his heart—a realization that he’d been alone for so long, and that he wasn’t as okay with it as he came to think. He never had a way with people. Maybe it was the way he spoke, or his large stature or permanent scowl. Whenever he did smile, people became visibly uncomfortable, perhaps thinking he was plotting something diabolical because of the rumors and speculation about his past, which was actually quite boring and disappointing in that storytelling department. He lived alone with his mother for most of his childhood while his dad toured the country promoting his racing career, and of course, participating in races. Whenever he had the opportunity, he’d visit his dad and watch him race. He still got to see him during the year whenever he came home, but most of the time it was just him and his mom, who was a busy politician who didn’t seem to have much time for her son, no matter how much she loved him. He knows his parents love him and that they always had, but they could never really connect with them on any level other than familial love. They had nothing in common, and his parents seemed to understand nothing about him. One particularly busy summer when Ben was a teenager, his parents sent him off to live with his uncle until the next school year started. He hated that summer. His uncle was even harder to connect with than his parents—and without the familial love that kept them together.

Because of all this, Ben didn’t have much of a social life. He spent any free time he had with his parents— whenever they weren’t too busy to see him—and doing any extracurriculars that interested him that year. He also spent as much time as he could visiting his dad at the racetrack and on tour during most summers. However, even with that aside, Ben still found it hard to connect with peers his own age. He enjoyed a wide range of topics, from poetry and science to military history and jiu jitsu. So, many of his classmates growing up thought he was too weird or serious to hang out with, which is why joining a workplace where others didn’t understand him (and actively avoided him) wasn’t too jarring to Ben. Yet it still managed to tear at his spirit and cut him deeply on his rougher days.

The only thing that ever helped him through all this was teaching. He’s always loved obtaining knowledge and sharing it with others. And even though his students are often scared of him, he still takes pride in their high test scores, knowing they learned what he taught them that year, and that every once in a while he gets a student or two who sees through his rough exterior and appreciates him as a teacher. Those are the students who go up to him at the end of each year and express their appreciation for him and his classes. These rare moments always kept Ben going, even though it got quite lonely sitting alone at lunch every day.

But it wasn’t enough, and Ben didn’t realize that until he saw Rey walking toward him on that first day, a perfect smile breaking across her face and rebooting any forgotten parts of his soul and body. She opened something inside him he didn’t know existed. It was as if his heart had been dormant all these years and just needed to be turned back on again, or maybe there was part of it that had never been awake at all. Then Rey shook his hand, looked deep into his eyes, and stole every single piece of him with a single glance. Every day with Rey next door revitalizes Ben, and every day it gets harder to see her walk toward the teacher’s lounge at lunch, yearning for her company and aching for the nerve to put himself out there and ask her out. But whenever he thought of this, he was reminded of all the times he put himself out there in life only to be torn down and ridiculed.

He knew he couldn’t let her leave for that room every day forever, though. He knew one day he had to work up the nerve to ask her to sit with him at lunch, or maybe grab a coffee after work. He just didn’t know if she’d want that, and he didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable, or open his heart just to have it stomped on. He also didn’t want to risk losing those good morning smiles and waves goodbye at the end of each workday, but on the other hand, he didn’t want to settle for those either—not without first seeing if she wanted to be more than just two teachers who greeted each other each day before carrying on with their separate lives.

That’s why it came as such a thrilling, surreal surprise when he saw Rey standing inside his classroom, looking out of that rain-soaked window, waiting for him to eat lunch with her, or at least spend time with him, whether they actually ate or not (which they didn't). The way she moved toward him with that smile that took his breath away. The way she looked at him with gentle eyes with the clarity not to be afraid of his misleading persona. The way she spoke his name and asked him the exact question he always wanted to ask her. It was like a dream. A beautiful vision he never knew he could dream, let alone experience in reality.

That lunch hour was the highlight of his year, and quite possibly the last decade of his life, and he isn’t afraid to admit it to himself, or to anyone who ever found out or somehow peered into his mind. He knows it might sound pathetic to some, but he doesn’t care. He’s just glad it happened and that the door to more encounters with Rey has been opened, and that today, he saw in her stare what he imagines she sees in his.

Affection.

He tries to push back any doubts that he saw it when she gave him that one last look before walking out of the room.

And he tosses it back and forth in his mind until the final bell of the day rings and releases his students from his jurisdiction.

His heart pounds in his ears as he looks out into the emptying hallway. Ten more seconds tick by. Twenty. Thirty. He sees time slipping away, and he knows he has to act. During the last few minutes of class, he promised himself he’d take the leap and finally ask her out. She made the first move at lunch today, so now he needs to make the next move. He can’t risk losing her.

Ben swallows his fear and walks out of the room. It’s only two small steps to get there, but he swears time has slowed down by the time he reaches her classroom. Either that or his heart is beating faster and louder than it has any right to.

When he looks inside, he sees her, and the world around them melts away. She’s stacking papers at her desk in the front of the class, her curled hair bouncing as she bends down to put the stack into one of her drawers, her pencil skirt clinging to her legs as she moves.

Ben swallows again, then knocks on the wall beside him. “Hi, Rey,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets to stop them from shaking. She stands upright and tucks her hair behind her ear. A smile spreads across her face, and her cheeks are bright and dimpled and he thinks he might die from how adorable she is.

“Hi, Ben. What’s up?”

_Stop shaking. Stop shaking. Be cool._

“Well, I was wondering…are you…free…tonight?” he bites his lip, trying hard not to wince as he shifts his eyes to look at her expression. Her smile remains as her eyes widen, and suddenly Ben can’t breathe.

“Yes, I am,” she says, her words tumbling all over each other. “I’m free now, actually. It’s the weekend, and I think I’m finally ahead for once.” She laughs softly and tucks her loosened curl behind her ear again.

The heat rushes to Ben’s face, and he lets the words fall from his mouth before he has the time to overthink what might happen next: “Would you like to grab a cup of coffee with me?”

If his heart beats any faster, he might not make it out of here alive.

His words hang in the air for one small moment before she walks over to him, beaming. “Oh, Ben, I thought you’d never ask.”

The pure joy that follows her reply is beyond anything Ben has ever experienced. It’s as if his whole life had led up to his moment and now the stars have aligned, and his body and soul are fully operational at long last.

He offers her his hand, and when she takes it, the feeling of her fingertips on his skin sends fire through his bloodstream. Her eyes don’t stray from his as he curls his hand around hers. They lace their fingers together, and he thinks he might die of happiness.

“Let’s go,” he says, and he loves the way she blushes when he says it. And he especially loves that her freckles stand out like sprinkled pixie dust beneath the pink blush that’s slowly deepening and spreading across her face and moving along her cheekbones.

“Where are we going?” she asks.

He smiles. “Wherever you’d like.”

Her lips scrunch to one side as she thinks, and Ben is convinced she’s the most angelic creature who’s ever lived.

Then her eyes shift back to his and her smile returns. “I know the perfect place.” She reaches under her desk to grab her purse and slings it over one shoulder. “I see it on the way to work each day and always want to stop in but never can.”

He squeezes her hand in his and smiles. “Then let’s go,” he whispers, and suddenly he’s acutely aware of how close they’ve become and how plump her lips look beneath her dark red lipstick. What he would give to kiss those lips.

But he resists, and instead leads her out of the room, making sure to flick off the lights on their way out.


	6. Chapter 6

“I have a coffee and cocoa for Ben,” the barista calls out, and Rey immediately perks up. The brief walk between Ben’s car and the small café was unseasonably cold, and Rey still wasn’t used to the summer being over, despite it being the beginning of October. But if there was anything that could make her feel warm and cozy, it was a nice, warm drink. Ben walks over to the counter and Rey’s heart flutters. She watches him grab their drinks and admires the way he moves and the way she can see his muscles through his thin sweater. She can’t believe she’s finally on a date with him. She was so worried it was never going to happen, and she second guessed her perception of his feelings a million times before taking the plunge to make the first move.

And she’s so glad she did.

“One black coffee for me and one cocoa for you,” Ben says, handing Rey her drink. She laughs.

“You aren’t helping your case of being the stoic, serious teacher, you know. Ordering a black coffee and all.” She looks at him over her drink as she takes a sip. Its warmth fills her like a soothing bath in her belly. “Mmm…I love chocolate.”

Ben laughs. “I suppose you’re right about the black coffee, but the cocoa suits you perfectly.”

“Why is that?” she says with a teasing smile before taking another sip.

His looks at her with that same leg-weakening smile and eyes that are even warmer than her drink.

“Because you’re so sweet and inviting, and you make me think of the joy of being carefree and alive.”

His answer catches her off guard. Does he really believe she’s an embodiment of those things? She feels like a hot mess pretty much every day. “I think you’re the only person who thinks that,” she says and takes another gulp of her cocoa, and then realizes she somehow already polished it off.

“Well, then everyone else is wrong,” he says. This makes her laugh.

“Ah. Okay. Good to know. Well, I’ll be sure to tell everyone else that you’re the authority on all things Rey Niima.” She giggles and looks at the menu in search of another drink.

His voice is leveled and light as he replies, “Well, I’d love to become someone who knows even more about you.”

An involuntary smile dimples Rey’s cheeks, and she finds herself blushing yet again. “Well,” she says, shooting him a coy look, “Maybe you can earn that title by choosing another drink for me. Anything you think I might like. Other than cocoa, that is.” She suppresses another grin, and he nods, laughing.

“Okay, you’re on. I’ll be right back.” He goes up to the counter and searches the menu on the board behind the barista. He puts his hands on her hips as he concentrates, and Rey has a sudden urge to wrap her arms around his waist and allow him to swallow her up into his arms. He says one more thing to the barista, gives her the money, takes his change, and then heads back to their small table with a coy look in his eye.

“Prepare to be amazed,” he says. She laughs.

“Yes! Dazzle me with your wits!”

He just laughs, and she can’t help but smile at the way his whole face lights up when he lets himself relax. They talk and laugh until the barista calls for Ben’s name again. He practically jumps from his seat to get the drink and tells her not to peek at what he’s doing.

“Close your eyes,” he says.

“Why?” she asks, but she does it anyway, still laughing. She never knew she could laugh this much, but she’s delighted at the discovery.

“You’ll see,” he says from the counter and then stays there a couple minutes longer. Finally, she hears him take a seat across from her again and place a cup on the table. “Okay, open your eyes.” When she does, she looks at the Styrofoam cup and lets out a laugh that makes the people around her stare. She doesn’t care, though. She and Ben are in a world of their own.

She clasps her hands together and says, “Ohmigosh, Ben! You’re so funny.” She laughs again and inspects his handiwork. On the styrofoam cup is a little constellation he drew with a marker. He drew the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, and a few scattered stars in between, and next to the drawing are the words “pumpkin _space_ latte”.

“Well, I figured it was the perfect drink for you, if we had to rule out cocoa. You’re always dressed in dark autumn colors and love warm drinks and all that fun stuff, and you’re an astronomy teacher, so you’d appreciate both the drink and the pun. It was a perfect drink!” He lifts his mug to his mouth and takes a sip, his eyes never leaving her charmed expression.

As she takes a sip of her latte while watching her date’s elated smile, and then looks back at her drink to revel in the cute drawing he made just for her, she realizes that this is what it’s like to fall in love.

He never has to know she doesn’t like the taste of lattes. She’d let him buy her a thousand more if it meant seeing that smile on his face. She’s never been so captivated by someone before. He’s so radiant. He’s so serious at school, but here, he is so free. He’s telling her stories with his whole body and animated expressions. He’s making her laugh so hard she think her stomach might burst. And she’s never had so much fun.

Being here with him has shown her a whole new side of him—a side she could tell was there but didn’t know the breadth of it. She loves it, and she can’t wait to find out every other side of him he’s kept locked away from the world for so long. She can’t wait to explore his heart the way she wants him to explore hers.

Rey is an optimistic person, and she always thought she was living a great life, even in the hard times. But no amount of optimism prepared her for true, unfiltered happiness like this.

Throughout the evening, the two of them scoot closer and closer together until there’s no space between them at all. The only thing that breaks them apart is one of the baristas telling them the café is closing and they have to go home. Rey looks at her phone and sees that they’d been there for four hours. “Wow, has it really been that long?”

“Yeah…I guess so…” Ben says, his eyes wide at the time on his phone too. Her face falls. She doesn’t want to go home yet, and her car’s still at school. Now that she knows what it’s like to be so happy, she doesn’t want to give it up for a moment. Sensing her troubles, Ben holds his hand out to her. “We don’t have to go home yet. I’ll be with you as long as you’ll have me.”

She beams and takes his hand. “Be careful, Ben. I may never let you go home again.” He laughs under his breath as they walk to his car.

“Then I’ll never leave,” he says. They stop at his car in the empty parking lot and stay bathed beneath the light of the moon. Rey stands in front of him and lets both her hands lace together with his.

His black hair is barely visible in the darkness, but the night sky is bright enough for her to see every other feature on his face with clarity. She looks up at him from under her lashes and smiles. “Ben, thank you. For everything. I never knew I could feel like this…like nothing in the world could pull me away from the stars.” The cool wind grazes her skin and sends chills across her body. Ben immediately takes off his jacket and puts it around her, which makes her laugh. “Ben, I already have a jacket on, and you need one on too.”

He’s still adjusting it around her as he says, “Yeah, but I’m used to the cold. I have a feeling you’re from someplace sunny.” She smiles.

“Yeah…” she starts to say, but when his hands linger on her arms, she loses the ability to speak.

He leans down and puts his forehead on hers. “Thank _you_ , Rey, for freeing me.” His breath is warm against her skin as he speaks every syllable, and when he grazes her forehead with his lips, every inch he touches burns in the best way. Her breathing quickens.

He pulls back slightly, and she can’t take her eyes from his face. Her heart is racing, and she can’t stop looking at his lips and thinking about how soft and inviting they look. _Would it be too presumptuous to reach up and kiss him right now? Is he ready for that?_

He leans in closer, and she’s swept away in the familiar, alluring scent of his aftershave and feel the deep warmth of his breath on her skin. They don’t look away from each other. They just lean in closer, their bodies touching now. Then she sees him look at her lips the way she was just looking at his, and she knows she wasn’t wrong in guessing his desires. But still…better to play it safe.

“Ben, can I ask you something?” she asks in a whisper.

“Anything,” he replies, and the bass of his voice rumbles through her body. Her breath is ragged in her throat as she gets lost in his stare. He’s looking at her like she’s the answer to world hunger and all he needs is a single bite to save the human race.

She can hear her heart pounding in her ears, and no amount of distraction or movement can save her now. “Do you want to kiss me?” she finally asks.

His face inches closer, and her legs grow weak. She steadies herself by grabbing onto his arms, but as soon as she does, she her hands move along his biceps. With nothing else to hold onto, she falls softly into him. When she looks up, she sees Ben looking at her in a way that might make her combust. His fingers make their way up the nape of her neck and then trace her jawline on the way to her chin. “Rey,” he breathes against her lips. Her eyes flutter closed. “You have no idea,” he says, and then gathers her in his arms, presses her against him, cradling her head in one of his hands, and kisses her. Deeply. Passionately. Mind-numbingly. The moment his lips fall into hers is like a thousand sparks of lightning crashing into a perfect sky. She kisses him back with the same desperate fervor, like she was waiting for him her entire life. Maybe she was. The more she kisses him, the more convinced of this she becomes. She can’t help but melt right into him. She wishes this could last forever

When they give each other one last kiss, they make it last. Rey’s lips linger on his as he tastes her one last time before pulling away. He holds her face in his hands, and she covers them with her own. Her cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and it doesn’t help that the remains of her lipstick are stained on his lips. She wipes them with her fingers and kisses them one last time.

When their eyes meet, they can’t stop smiling. Rey can’t get over how great life feels now that she’s in love. Life is so much greater. The air is so much clearer, the stars are so much brighter, and Rey’s convinced she could float away if Ben were to let her go. But she hopes he doesn’t. She could stay wrapped in his arms forever and die completely happy.

The world around them is probably cold, but all Rey can feel is the warmth of Ben’s arms wrapped snugly around her. She rests her head on his chest and smiles.

Neither one of them can stop smiling. They’re so dizzy with love and life and excitement for what the rest of the weekend has in store for them. They stay tucked in each other’s arms for as long as possible before getting in the car and heading out on their next adventure. They don’t know what the rest of their lives will bring, but right now, everything is perfect and that’s all that matters.

But they have a funny feeling they’ll never be alone again.


End file.
